This section provides background information related to the present disclosure, which is not necessarily prior art.
Vehicles are often equipped with a communications system that is able to connect to (pair with) a mobile telephone present within the vehicle to allow the mobile telephone to be accessed through the vehicle communications system for making and receiving telephone calls. When a telephone call is received by the mobile telephone, and the mobile telephone is present within the vehicle and paired with the communications system, the call will be announced (or will “ring”) through a vehicle speaker, such as one or more speakers of the vehicle's audio system. Upon answering the call, the user will be able to hear the voice of the other person on the call through the vehicle speaker, and will be able to talk to the other person using a microphone mounted within the vehicle. The user can access the paired mobile telephone through the communications system of the vehicle to place calls as well.
While current communications systems are suitable for their intended use, they are subject to improvement. For example, because current vehicle communications systems require that the user's mobile telephone be present in the vehicle and paired with the system, the user cannot make or receive calls when the user does not have his/her mobile phone in the vehicle. Systems and methods for making telephone calls onboard a vehicle when a mobile phone is not present in the vehicle would therefore be desirable.